Can't Access Internal Hard Drive

[Indi__]

I can't access my hard drive at all. BIOS recognizes it, Windows 7 recognizes it, all the drivers are up to date, but I have no way of accessing it or storing anything on it. I've tried several "fixes" from the forums like rebooting to even reinstalling Windows but it never pops up an option to open the drive.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome, Indi__!

Can you please share a screenshot of Disk management and check if it's recognized there? Do you see any errors popping up when trying to access it?
I'd recommend you to follow this tutorial on how to take ownership of the drive: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2808-take-ownership-file-folder-drive-registry-key-windows-8-a.html
Since the HDD is recognized by the system, I'd also suggest you to test it using the manufacturer's brand-specific HDD diagnostic tool and determine the health and SMART status of the drive. If you can't find this utility on their official website, you can refer to this thread for some third-party testing tool suggestions: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Hope it helps. Keep me posted.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Indi__]

Ok, did all that. Still not sure how to get it to show up in the "My Computer" screen. All the tests passed but I can't see it to access it or claim ownership. I've run everything but the extended test (mainly because it claims it'll take 6 hours).

Not sure which screen you're wanting so...
- The 250 gb drive shown is the SSD it was booted from. I assume that might be part of the problem though unclear on is to how. Never done a dual drive install before.

http://tinypic.com/r/4sd53k/9
http://tinypic.com/r/1zof707/9
http://tinypic.com/r/2rpbqjc/9
http://tinypic.com/r/2ldu4gz/9

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there agian, Indi__!

Usually, you should be patient with the EXTENDED test as it will allow you to determine the SMART data and complete heath state. I'd recommend you to run it overnight while you are not on the computer until the process is finished.
So is the WD Blue a brand new HDD? If it is and there is no data stored on it, I think that the issue is coming from the fact that you need to get the hard drive initialized and then partitioned & formatted from Disk Management. Keep in mind that these procedures would erase everything on the drive, so make sure you have your data backed up! (In case the HDD has been used previously)
Here are a couple of tutorials from our knowledge base that can walk you through the steps:
How to initialize your HDD - http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=5unUXT
How to partition & format it - http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=wMI1Ty

Hope these help you. Let me know if you need further assistance!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Indi__]

I'll run the full test as soon as possible. This helped... kind of. There is still a chunk of about 750 GB, that I can not do anything with (link below), all the options other than Properties and Help are grayed out. I've tested the chunk that does work and it seems to be fine but I'm missing a third of my drive space. I really appreciate the help thus far. This monster has taken so long to finally get together, this is the last straw of the build.

http://tinypic.com/r/2it6kw/9

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, Indi__!

It seems like you've initialized your HDD with Master Boot Record (MBR) partition style and, unfortunately, this partition table doesn't support HDDs bigger than 2.2 TB in size. In order to be able to access the other 750 GB, you'd need to backup your data from the drive somewhere else and reformat it in GPT (GUID partition table). Here's a link from our KB that explains how to initialize the HDD: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=5unUXT
In order to change the partition style, you'd need to manually select it from the Initialize Disk Wizard.

Hope this helps. Keep me posted if you need further assistance!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Indi__]

So to redo the 3tb HDD I'd need to backup and format the SSD that my computer boots from? If that's so, can I use the current HDD to back up the SSD, change the SSD/format it, load the back up, then change the HDD?

It's going to be a pain to redownload everything again is why I ask. I have nothing to back up the original SSD to. And with the links provided I have no way to change just the HDD. Unless I missed something, I have no option to change the type of partition table. Just formatting it.